Southend High School for Girls 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Southend High School for Girls? Find out everything you need to know about admissions and how to prepare your child for success in the 11 plus.

Key information about Southend High School for Girls

• Address: Southend High School for Girls, Southchurch Boulevard, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 4UZ
• Number of pupils: 1,200+
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 180
• 11+ exam: CSSE 11+
• Catchment area: yes

Dates for your diary

• Tuesday 13th May 2025: registration opens for the CSSE 11 plus
• Friday 27th June 2025: registration closes for the CSSE 11 plus, and deadline for requests for special adjustments
• July 2025: parents receive test centre information by 16th July
• Saturday 20th September 2025: CSSE 11 plus exam
• Monday 13th October 2025: parents receive CSSE 11 plus results
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school applications close at 5pm
• Monday 2nd March 2026: secondary school national offers day

About Southend High School for Girls

Southend High School for Girls is a girls' grammar school with a mixed sixth form in Southend-on-Sea. The school has been dedicated to educating and inspiring young women for over a century. Students benefit from a broad curriculum and expert teaching as they prepare for university and beyond.

Girls at SHSG achieve excellent exam results at GCSE and A level. Many students go on to universities including the Russell Group, Oxbridge, and universities overseas.

How to apply to Southend High School for Girls

Southend High School for Girls is a selective school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place.

SHSB is a member of the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE). All 10 grammar schools in the CSSE use the same 11 plus exam. This means that your child will only need to take the exam once – even if they’re applying to other schools in the consortium.

The deadline to register for the CSSE 11 plus exam is 27th June 2025. The exam will take place on Saturday 20th September 2025 and you’ll receive your child’s results in mid-October. You can then use these results to decide whether to apply for a place at Southend High School for Girls.

To apply, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October.

Remember – passing the 11 plus doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Many grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Southend High School for Girls below.

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

The CSSE 11 plus exam consists of two papers. Each paper lasts around one hour.

1. English: this consists of reading comprehension and creative writing
2. Maths: questions are based on the Key Stage 2 maths curriculum

How does place allocation work at Southend High School for Girls?

Each of the two CSSE papers are worth up to 60 marks (120 in total). Your child’s final marks will be standardised and weighted.

Each school in the CSSE sets its own qualifying score, and this varies from year to year. In 2023, a total standardised score of 303 was the lowest score for which girls who live within the priority area were offered a place at Southend High School for Girls. A score of 324 was the lowest score for which girls who live outside the priority area were offered a place at the school.

Southend High School for Girls allocates places in this order of priority:

1. ‘Looked after’ and ‘previously looked after’ children who have passed the CSSE selection test
2. Children who passed the exam, live within the priority area, and qualify for ‘preferential consideration’
3. Children who have passed the exam and live within the priority area
4. Children who passed the exam, live outside the priority area, and qualify for ‘preferential consideration’
5. Children who passed the exam and live outside the priority area

‘Preferential consideration’ is given to girls who are ‘looked after’ or ‘previously looked after’, who receive Free School Meals, or who receive Pupil Premium at the time of registration.

What is the Southend High School for Girls catchment area?

Southend High School for Girls operates a ‘priority area’. This covers the postcode areas SS0, SS1, SS2, SS3, SS4, SS5, SS6, SS7, SS8 and SS9.

Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation

The 11 plus is designed to select the most academically able children in the country. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.